The two men came to a secluded corner, sat down, and pretended to chat as they opened their phones. A somewhat blurry video began playing.
As the video went on, Jiang Cheng quickly understood what Tang Qisheng meant by "a twist of fate." It began with a shot of the courtyard gate. Judging by the angle, the phone had probably been propped up somewhere high, like in a tree or on a wall, with the camera tilted toward the gate. It looked down over the scene and had a clear view of the body being carried out.
There had been a lot of people in the courtyard, milling about in a noisy crowd. Jiang Cheng guessed Tang Qisheng had taken advantage of the commotion to set up his phone.
Just as Tang Qisheng had expected, the funeral procession carried the body out through the courtyard gate. It had been wrapped up tightly and covered with another layer of white cloth. With the crowd blocking the view as well, there was no way to spot anything wrong.
But soon, something unexpected happened. The video suddenly jolted violently. By the time the camera steadied, it was pointing in another direction: the road leading into the village.
Jiang Cheng quickly figured out what had happened. The phone must have fallen from its perch. He couldn't tell why yet. Perhaps a gust of wind had knocked it down, or perhaps it simply hadn't been secured properly.
But that no longer mattered. Tang Qisheng dragged his finger along the progress bar. There was still a long stretch of footage, almost entirely motionless, with not a single person on the road.
"Here." Tang Qisheng lifted his finger.
The scene changed. A procession dressed in mourning clothes came into view from the far edge of the frame.